Julia Restoin Roitfeld En Blanc

Julia Restoin Roitfeld En Blanc
By Sarra Salib

It is undeniable that Julia Restoin Roitfeld likes to dress in white as much as she does in black and leopard print. I began thinking of writing about Julia’s love for dressing in white a while ago, and ironically enough, Vogue Spain recently styled an editorial featuring Julia appropriately titled "La Dama de Blanco." A month later, Madame Figaro released their April issue with Julia on the cover clad in a white ensemble. I have officially decided to take the emerging pattern a bit further to showcase some of Julia’s noteworthy white outfits, perhaps that will spark inspiration for this summer!

It would be more befitting to start with her daytime looks in white, which are styled in the signature French simple yet feminine light. When summer gets too hot, it’s all the more appropriate to show your tanned skin in form-fitting and cool silhouettes. Julia does just that with Alexander Wang’s white jersey dress, which she styled slightly differently but still with Yves Saint Laurent pumps and a gold cuff on the two separate occasions. What’s admirable about Julia Restoin Roitfeld is that she stays true to her style. Nothing is ever overdone for the sake of being “fashion” or following trends and looking like a complete replica of the runway. It is the essence of Julia's style that still hasn’t faded away.

Next is one of my favorite looks, a lacy mesh dress with the beloved Miu Miu sky high peep toe platforms. Another thing to admire about Julia is that she is not afraid to repeat an outfit or wear the same shoes more than once or twice. She is practical and wise to understand that these are investment pieces that are meant to be worn several times. We will see these accessories as common elements in the next outfits. The oddball in this outfit is the oversized purse — such a heavy looking thing is out of character for Julia, but perhaps she had a little extra to carry.

If you want a look that is more flowy, but still simple and light, there’s the Topshop one shoulder A-line dress paired with Balenciaga sandals. This is extremely chic and comfortable for a summer day out in the city with friends and family. I like how Julia added the green fringe purse for a pop of color against the white.

If you are not partial to dresses, there’s the silk shirt and short skirt ensemble. Here Julia Restoin Roitfeld wore an Equipment sheer silk blouse — her father’s line — with the sleeves rolled up as always, paired with a classy skirt and Miu Miu strappy shoes. Only Julia can dress up a sheer blouse and manage to look elegant at the same time. Once again, the key is to keep it simple! If you are going to wear a sheer blouse, make that the statement piece and simplify the shape and everything else so as to stay effortless and breezy.

Not only does Julia have an array of daytime looks in white, there's also a plethora of evening wear to admire. First is this beautiful dress that emphasizes the waist, accessorized with a beige clutch, Givenchy shoes, and — my favorite accessory of all time — the Pamela Love gold talon cuff. This could even double as an appropriate formal outfit for a work function.

Next is the classic little white dress with the leather jacket. We’ve seen Julia Restoin Roitfeld do this look before, but now it is more edgy, sophisticated, and grown-up. The shiny leather biker jacket with zipper detailing is a definite statement piece that adds edginess and breaks up the femininity and fragility of the dress. This look is a perfect combination of austerity, masculinity, and delicacy. Notice how Julia has taken it to a higher ground by doing a prominent cat eye. It is the perfect touch to tie the whole outfit together.

We all know that Julia is famous for borrowing from the wardrobe of her maman, Carine Roitfeld. She did not hesitate to borrow this statement Dolce & Gabbana number in white with flawless cut-out detailing for her appearance at the launch of the Savelli Smart Phone in Paris. She paired it with Miu Miu’s pointed pumps, which I believe she had repaired after they broke because she loved these particular shoes so much.

Last is a strapless dress gathered at the waist with the slightest hint of volume at the bottom, worn with Tom Ford shoes. This look is different from the others because we rarely see Julia go strapless or with her hair up, but she looked fabuleux.

This leads us to long evening wear, where we must begin with the angelic curve-hugging dress that Julia Restoin Roitfeld wore to Natalia Vodianova’s White Fairy Tale Love Ball. Notice how the look was kept to the absolute minimal with only a ring and a silver clutch at hand. Julia knew that the dress itself was the perfect statement piece for the theme; therefore, there was no need for superfluous accessories that might have dominated the look. Well done, Julia, and what a figure!

And who can forget when Julia stunned us all with her post-Romy figure in a crop top with a matching long pencil skirt for a dinner celebration of Romy and the Bunnies? Julia wore the same look recently, but paired it with a long black cape. Crop tops are tricky enough, much less adding the element of a cape to the mix. It’s amazing how she managed to convert this look for an outside party to an ultra-glamorous night party by adding and taking away a few things. The main thing we ought to pay attention to is the confidence that Julia exudes. A woman cannot simply wear a crop top and be insecure in her skin. You must be confident and know that you look as fabulous as ever.

Setting the bar for the sheer and lace trends, Julia wore a sheer dress with tiny flower details finished with minimalist makeup and her bespoke "Julia" clutch in Lucite by Edie Parker for the premiere of the film Mademoiselle C in New York City.

Finally, Julia Restoin Roitfeld donned a white satin pleated and embroidered dress at the Tribeca Film Festival and accessorized with some dangerously sexy studded heels and a leather clutch.

Voila! There you have a number of daytime and evening looks in white as inspired by the most beautiful Julia. I could add many more to the list, but consider this the more modern and updated lookbook of Julia Restoin Roitfeld wearing white. It is always interesting to look back and analyze how Julia's style evolved from pre- to post-Romy; however it evolves, her style will always be timeless, classy, and epitomize the French effortless chic glamor. Happy summer!

[Editor's note: Notice that Julia Restoin Roitfeld is also wearing a white dress in the IWTBAR masthead illustration by Isabelle Oziol de Pignol.]

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Julia Restoin Roitfeld photographs courtesy of models.com and Fashion Spot.

I Want To Be A Roitfeld: Year Five

Today is 16 May, my favorite day of the year — I Want To Be A Roitfeld is five years old today! It is incredible to note that for half of a decade this site has been devoted to the Roitfeld family — Carine, Julia, and Vladimir — what adventures we have had! Best of all, the lily of the valley, or le muguet, is in bloom today, the most glorious herald of spring, the fragrance intoxicates. In case you are not in a position to smell the wondrous lily of the valley yourself, I picked you posies from my garden to celebrate the day.

First, a virtual bouquet for you, dear reader, for you are our raison d'être, without you we write for naught. Merci mille fois especially to those of you that dare to comment and offer your own opinion on our subjects.

Next, a bouquet for my incredible editorial team, Dara Block, Jascmeen Bush, Jessica Eritou, Renee Hernandez, Montse Ocejo, Bernie Rothschild, and Sarra Salib. I am continually inspired by all of you and I wholeheartedly thank each of you for contributing your talents to IWTBAR.

Finally, a special nosegay for my beloved Michael, Sweet Pea, and Walter, for the constant love and encouragement, ich liebe dich.

xx
Kellina

Joyeux anniversaire, ma geai bleue.

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Carine Roitfeld, Julia and Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld photos courtesy of Fashion Spot. Walter photos © 2014 Kellina de Boer.

Chic To Chic: Carine Roitfeld By Kal Ruttenstein

Chic To Chic: Carine Roitfeld By Kal Ruttenstein
By Dara Block

Recently, I was looking back through my magazine archives and stumbled upon an old issue of Bloomingdale's Magazine. I am not sure where I got this publication... but wherever I got it, I couldn't help but gravitate towards an amazing interview between Carine Roitfeld and former Bloomingdale's Fashion Director, Kal Ruttenstein. Sadly, Kal Ruttenstein passed away in 2005, and if you are unfamiliar with his work, you should know that he was a complete visionary in the department store world. Season after season, he informed shoppers of what would be important by blending designs straight from the runways of Paris, New York City, and Milan into Bloomingdale's. He also had an amazing ability to incorporate ideas from pop culture to create such spectacular in-store boutiques. His eye for style was quite incredible, so it's no surprise why he was very excited to interview Carine Roitfeld. The two got together in 2004, when she was the editor-in-chief for Vogue Paris... so it's fascinating to see what Kal Ruttenstein and Carine Roitfeld had to say to each other. Now with all that said, let's take a closer look at this witty and detailed interview.

Lank-haired, kohl-eyed and reed thin, Carine Roitfeld is perhaps the most stylish woman in fashion. As the editor of French Vogue, as a collaborator with designers the stature of Tom Ford, as the creative czarina behind some of the most memorable fashion advertising of the last decade, Mademoiselle Roitfeld has had a profound influence on the glamour realm. Her extensive shoe collection alone is enough to inspire awe in fashionable women around the globe. Lunching with Kal Ruttenstein at the Ritz in Paris during Couture Week earlier this year, a conversational and candid Roitfeld reveals some of her less well-known traits: why she likes to sing in public, why she's mad about jodhpurs and why Kate Moss is her ideal woman.

Kal Ruttenstein: Carine, it's great to see you again. I haven't seen you in a couple of months. And here you are at the Ritz Hotel in a beautiful coat that contains a mixture of three different furs.

Carine Roitfeld: I'm sure it's very politically incorrect, you know, but….

KR: It's really great-looking, though.

CR: Thank you. But you know it's very cold today.

KR: It's freezing in Paris. It reminds me of the time you came to New York and you went with me to the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) Awards. It was summer, and you wore a fur. No one was wearing furs in summer.

CR: That, too, was probably politically incorrect (laughs).

KR: You started a trend. You really did.

CR: No, I was following the show. It was Tom (Ford)'s show, I think. It was a Gucci outfit from spring. It's cold in spring, too.

KR: So — it was Russian New Year recently.

CR: Yes. Last week. And you know I'm half-Russian, so I love these moments, and I love to share them with people. I had dinner that night with Karl Lagerfeld, Lady Amanda Harlech, Hedi Slimane and Emmanuelle Seigner and my daughter. Karl took his glasses off for the whole dinner, which means it was very relaxed, you know? And suddenly, when a violinist came up behind him, he put his glasses back on (laughs). I don't know why. Maybe because if we go to a restaurant where there's a violinist playing a song I recognize, I sing along. They're songs I remember when I was a little girl. And I sing very badly, like a lost duck. After the dinner, Hedi sent me a note saying it was worth coming just to see the horrified expression on my daughter's face when I was singing. But why not? I won't die from being ridiculous for 10 minutes. It's such a pleasure. I just make sure to invite different people each year so I have a new audience. Maybe you can come come next year?

KR: If you invite me, I will come. My grandparents were Russian, so I have an affinity.

CR: OK

KR: I remember the first time I ever saw you. I noticed your feet before the rest of you, because you always wear incredible shoes. And I would ask people, "Who is this woman who's so chic?" And people would tell me, "It's Carine Roitfeld, the stylist, and Tom Ford's muse." But you had a career long before that. You were a model first, correct?

CR: Yes, but it was not my time. Maybe if I was a model today, I would be more successful. Maybe Mario Testino would discover me and I would have a great career (laughs). That wasn't the right moment for me, but it led me to fashion. I was a stylist for a long time before people came to know me as the muse of Tom Ford. But you know, life's like that. Sometimes you need someone else to make you known.

KR: Well, last year, all the models tried to look like you — your hair, your makeup, the look was Carine on the runway. 

CR: (Joking) And now I'm out of fashion?

KR: (Laughs) No!

CR: It's finished for me (laughs)!

KR: Your look sort of remains the same.

CR: Yeah, I don't change. I still wear the high shoes and very simple knee-length skirts, mostly black, in winter.

KR: But there was a moment last season...

CR: Even on the runway, no? Some girls looked a little like me, their eyes, their hair. The very dark makeup that looks like you haven't taken it off from the night before. It's funny, because some people think I'm very, well, like those naughty girls who go out all night to clubs. But that's not me at all. I'm a nice girl (laughs). I'm, uh, maybe, more sweet than people think I am. People think I'm tough, or that I have a rock star attitude, but maybe I'm just shy. I'm not the girl they think I am.

KR: I think you're shy. The last time I saw you, a few months ago, you told me you were going to start wearing tailored clothes which you hadn't worn in awhile, like suits.

CR: I just got one recently. (Giorgio) Armani gave me a suit that I love, and I wore it on a television program for an interview about Tom Ford. I don't want to wear Tom Ford clothes for an interview about Tom Ford, because I'm not totally dedicated to Tom, you know? So I wore my Armani suit with a very old pink tank top, and when I saw myself on TV I thought a suit is not so bad. It's great, because you can cross your legs the way you want. It changes your attitude, but still in high heels.

KR: With pants, in a pantsuit.

CR: Yes. I would love to keep wearing them. And maybe I'm going to push them in the magazine so designers make more. What I really like now are jodhpurs, because I got back from India, where I visited Jodhpur, the city of these trousers. I saw some polo matches, which were beautiful. In India you can have what you want made in a couple of hours. A tailor came to my hotel and took my measurements like they do in Milan. In this case I got my trousers three hours later, one black pair, one beige. They're very tight, tight, tight under the knee and then a little wide, and I think they're very sexy. I love them.

KR: Will you wear them this week?

CR: It's a bit cold, maybe later in the season.

KR: What kind of shoes do you wear with jodhpurs?

CR: High heels.

KR: Of course.

CR: It's a bit like what Tom Ford did for (Yves) Saint Laurent, a bit masculine, a bit feminine.

KR: Let's talk about your magazine. French Vogue has an amazing look to it since you've been there. It gets stronger every season. In America, we all loved the Catherine Deneuve issue.

CR: It was a good one. I told you how I like traditions; well, French Vogue has traditions, such as inviting a special guest to edit the Christmas issue. It was stopped for quite a few years. In the past we had some great people, like Mikhail Baryshnikov, Françoise Sagan, the Dalai Lama and Roman Polanski. So I wanted to continue that tradition. Everyone has something to say about Catherine Deneuve. Everyone is still dreaming about her, you know. And in front of the camera, she's astonishing. In the shoots, she likes to play a role. People seemed to really like the issue.

KR: Where do you stand on the idea of celebrities versus models on the cover of French Vogue?

CR: It's been a very long time, maybe more than ten years, since we put a celebrity on the cover of French Vogue. And last August we put (actress) Sophie Marceau on the cover, and it was great for sales. But there are not so many celebrities in France that we think would be great for the magazine. We've shot Emmanuelle Seigner for the cover, and Catherine Deneuve, and now we are going to have some models. I don't want to be like American Bazaar, with celebrities every month, because we are a fashion magazine, but sometimes, it's great. We are very picky (laughs). She has to be beautiful and charismatic.

KR: Talk about your collaboration with Fabien Baron on French Vogue.

CR: The day I got the job, three years ago, I called him to come on board as creative director. But it was too complicated for him to work as a consultant for us and live in New York. I waited for two years and called him again, and this time he said yes. I was so happy, because he's the best. He has a chic attitude. I don't want to sound pretentious, but if you say a magazine is like a ring or a beautiful jewel, he makes the perfect box to put it in. He makes everything seem more spectacular. He understands our culture, which is very important. And he's easy to work with. He loves life, he loves to eat, he's simple. The day he came to the magazine, he invited the art staff to have lunch with him. I think he's very generous. And I like that.

KR: As an editor, you have had a great influence on fashion. Not only on designers, but on the readers of the magazine who try to emulate your look. You are your reader.

CR: You know why? Because I have a very simple look. It's easy to copy in a way because it's not so "fashion." I think it's more about having an attitude, a feminine attitude, rather than buying a total look. Everyone owns a skirt, but when you add high heels, your attitude changes, even the way you're talking to someone when you're sitting, it's totally different. And you are tougher, more feminine, and I think that's it. My clothes haven't changed much, but maybe my attitude has changed. It's more relaxed, very French, very Parisian, you know?

KR: Yes. But it's not as easy as you think to emulate the look.

CR: They don't put the hair in the face, no? They try, but they pull it back. This is my protection. Sometimes when I have no hair in my face, I feel completely nude. It's a strange feeling, you know?

KR: Do you think there's a big difference between the French look, the American look and the Milanese look?

CR: Yes. Totally different. I think Milanese is very... rich. They want to show off. So it's not just rich — they love to show the furs, the jewels, they put on too much makeup. But it's so womanly, in a way. I like that. It's good for them. When the Milanese woman crosses the street, all the cars stop to let her cross. The American woman is more low-profile but more self-confident and very sharp. The French woman is more laissez-aller, more bohemian and spontaneous and takes more risks. You can learn to avoid bad taste, but you can never learn good taste and chic. It comes naturally.

KR: You're right about that!

CR: You can learn not to make errors, the way you put your clothes, together, but to create something special is very difficult. Kate Moss — she's great. She's my idol, you know. Everyone wants to be like her, you know? Even if you don't like a look on the catwalk, when you see it on her, you want it. She's magic, because she has a way to transform things. She's the chicest model. And for us in France, even though she's English, she's the one. And now, I think after almost 15 years, she's still modeling, and she's still amazing. She is on our March cover.

KR: Can't wait to see it.

CR: French people love Kate, she sells. She's not too slick, she seems clever, and she has the je ne sais quois of Marilyn Monroe. Sometimes we both wear the same clothes — which means I, too, must have good taste occasionally (laughs).

This was such a great way to end the conversation and I must admit I think this may be one of my favorite Carine Roitfeld interviews, ever. Kal Ruttenstein asked such comprehensive questions and I love how in-depth and personal this interview was. I don't know why, but I feel like Carine Roitfeld is still the same person as she was in 2004, despite the fact that she has moved on to CR Fashion Book and is no longer the current editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris. It really feels like her drive and passion for style is never ending and I feel like after reading this interview again and seeing Mademoiselle C it all completely makes sense on what a visionary she is. It's always fascinating to get a glimpse inside someone's creative process and I think Kal Ruttenstein did such an excellent job at capturing that with this interview. Hopefully, you enjoyed reading this one, as much as I did!

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Carine Roitfeld photos courtesy of lefigaro.fr, Kal Ruttenstein interview and images © 2005 Bloomingdale's. All Rights Reserved.

Cathy Horyn On Carine Roitfeld

The fashion world has suffered a loss today with the announcement that Cathy Horyn will no longer be writing for The New York Times. At this time, I am inspired to reflect on Cathy Horyn's contribution to Irreverent, her eloquent account of meeting Carine Roitfeld for drinks at the Ritz. Adieu, Cathy, bonne chance !

Extract from Carine Roitfeld: Irreverent
By Cathy Horyn

Not surprisingly, given the way things linked and dovetailed in the '80s, before digital links made such connections instant and artificial, Carine Roitfeld was also observing Carlyne (Cerf de Dudzeele), and as well Nicole Crassat, the legendary fashion editor of French Elle, for which Carine, a former model, offered short freelance pieces. "I learned a lot from these two women," Carine tells me over a drink at the Ritz bar. "From Nicole, I learned about a sense of femininity, like putting a black bra under a white shirt. With Carlyne, it was a bit more aggressive — military clothes with gold shoes." As she speaks, her black-rimmed eyes sparkle behind a protective blind of tousled, shoulder-length hair that, along with high heels and narrow skirts, is her distinctive style trademark. 

Sitting straight-back, her long arms sheathed in a black sweater that leaves visible the hollow of her neck, she nurses a glass of vodka she ordered with relish an hour before. I notice several men glancing at her and one, clearly working on a fantasy, calls from his nearby table, "What are you two girls talking about?" And Carine, instead of being wary, flicks her head and in a sweet voice murmurs, "We're just having fun." Then, as the man struggles in confusion, his lips forming the obscene words he thought he has heard, she turns away, releasing him.

In person, in the picture she creates, Carine is not afraid to be audaciously sophisticated and sexual, if politely unavailable. She understands that the roots of all fashion are snobbish, expensive, erotic, and that it depends on a landscape of difficult women — instinctively feminine and cultivated, but not overly educated — to convince the rest of us to ignore our better judgment and play along. Viewed critically, Carine's whippet-thin woman in a tight skirt and stilettos, her impeccable bourgeois surface broken by tumbling hair and a cigarette in her hand rather than a purse, seems a throwback to a chauvinistic and decadent time. And this creature arrived on the fashion scene at a moment, in the '90s, when French cultural influence was on the wane. Yet, viewed up close, Carine was creating a character based on her own provocative personality. It took a certain daring to turn away from the romantic conventions of editorial shoots — beautiful though they may be, with disguises and casts of eccentrics — and look inward, though seldom more than skin deep. "I think I'm very good with nothing," Carine says of her styling methods. This was a useful skill to have, especially at the beginning of her career, when she and Mario Testino, with whom she worked most often, didn't have big budgets for shoots and were forced to rely on Carine's wits: "She's biting her nails, she's pulling the T-shirt under her skirt, she's kissing someone, she's holding a little girl by the hand, she's crossing her legs," as she says of her character. 

Of course, this nail-biting, décolletage-plunging, largely submissive view of woman was also disturbing. Whether or not Carine foresaw the hedonistic fashion of the late '90s, she was definitely one of its principal architects. 

Like many people, I first heard of Carine in conjunction with Tom Ford and Gucci. This was in 1999 — already late into Ford's stunning turnaround of the Italian label, but I had spent a number of years away from the collections writing about other matters, and when I went back to Milan, I must admit I was shocked by what I saw. Ford had indeed created a modern primitive, operating on her senses (and, if need be, on all fours). And, I can say now, I didn't sufficiently appreciate what he and Carine were doing at Gucci (and later at Saint Laurent too), perhaps because it was all happening in front of my eyes. But he and Carine created a genuine archetype; not a concoction from a mood board, but a real woman who in every polished corpuscle, mean step, and lipsticked mouth, conveyed a world made neurotic and unstable by vast amounts of money, much of it from Wall Street and Silicon Valley. The fashion world had changed since the early '90s — it felt less civilized, for sure — but what of it? It pulsed with new creativity, new energy. And it delivered us, for better or worse, into the era of global brands. 

Carine remained an enigma to me for several years — it's funny, I retain a vivid memory of her coming into the Vanity Fair Oscar party, around 2002, wearing a leopard-print Alaïa dress that covered the parts of her body that were necessary and thinking she had all the actresses beat. By then the editor-in-chief of French Vogue, she was a woman in her mid-forties. Within a few years, the street photographers and bloggers gathering in force outside the shows in Paris had discovered Carine (along with Anna Wintour and Franca Sozzani) and I used to imagine thousands of snaps of Carine — in some incredible fur coat or mad pair of sandals, hair in her face — gathering in archives in Japan, waiting for the day when a contemporary artist sees what our numbed minds were not yet ready to grasp. 

I began this essay about a contemporary icon by circling back to the '80s. This is perhaps the perverse habit of my generation, to see things as a continuum, events and people dovetailing together; it's how we make sense of things. For me, when I set out to write about fashion, it was important that I learn. The sittings editors — Carlyne, of course, during my first forays into fashion and Grace Coddington at Vogue, and then Carine in more recent years — had a visual intelligence that I admired but knew I would never master. Still, the point is to learn, and I can say that all these women, and many more besides, have been great teachers. And despite the sometimes discouraging realities of the fashion business, young people have a tremendous readiness to learn. I hope this book about the very individual work of Carine Roitfeld answers some of their questions.

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Cathy Horyn and Carine Roitfeld photographs courtesy of Fashion Spot

Pre-Order Mademoiselle C DVD

If, like me, you are still waiting to see the film Mademoiselle C about Carine Roitfeld and the making of her CR Fashion Book, relief is on the way… the Mademoiselle C DVD releases on 11 March 2014! If you pre-order your copy now on Amazon, you are guaranteed to receive Mademoiselle C the day it comes out. I know how I will be spending 93 minutes of my birthday…. While we wait, be sure to enjoy the impressions of Mademoiselle C shared by Dara Block and Jascmeen Bush or my interview with the director of the film, Fabien Constant. 

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Carine Roitfeld Mademoiselle C DVD Cover © 2013 Cohen Media. Carine Roitfeld photo courtesy of instagram.com/helenatejedor.